Finite-Time, Robust, and Adaptive Motion Control with State Constraints: Controller Derivation and Real Plant Experiments

The paper refers to one of the most important problems in industrial automation and robotics—effective motion control in the presence of state variable constraints. A new, nonlinear, adaptive, robust, and practically applicable motion controller for a motor-driven servo is proposed. The developed controller guarantees that the transient of the motion is practically finished in a predefined time, and after this moment, the desired motion trajectory is tracked with specified accuracy, inviolable, time-variable constraints imposed on the position and the velocity are preserved, and all these features are robust against disturbances and violations of the system’s parameters. This approach, distinguished by the fact that the settling time and the quasi-steady-state tracking accuracy are explicitly available design parameters, has never been described before. The controller is based on a special type of time-varying barrier Lyapunov function (BLF), responsible for the finite-time tracking and for meeting the constraints. The derivation of the controller is based on Lyapunov stability theory. A mixture of robust adaptive, nonlinear control techniques is applied to prove the system’s stability. Numerous simulations and experiments with a real permanent-magnet motor- driven servo prove the practical applicability and usefulness of the presented approach.